Wyverns
Wyverns are monsters that look remotely similar to dragons, but are smaller and less intelligent. In the flesh, they appeared only once in the Wandering Inn storyline so far. But they are often referenced to being one of the most dangerous singular beasts of Izril. Appearance, Powers and Abilities Wyverns come in "variants", which indicates that there are several subspecies in different sizes and with varying abilities. The white wyvern lives in the mountains, loves the cold, and is a major danger in winter. This variant is also known as Frost Wyvern. A purple wyvern that Ryoka encountered near the bloodfields in winter had dark purple scales, was three times larger than her, but had no claws to speak of. She had no idea how it would be able to lift off, or reach its flight height. Ryoka only survived because Frost Faeries brought it to the ground when it was still of two miles high in the air, freezing it within seconds. Even on the ground, it gave chase but Ryoka was faster.Chapter 2.23 and Chapter 2.24 Some wyverns are able to breathe fire.Chapter 1.07Chapter 3.42Chapter 6.16 While wyverns might not have claws (see above), the Wyvern tooth was mentioned in an epithet.Chapter 1.01 H Wyverns are known to hunt also at night, which might indicate night vision or some kind of radar sense. Wyvern Skin Wyverns apparently have an extremely tough skin which is very often referred to when comparing combat abilities: Grimalkin compares Pisces' rapier unfavorably to the skin several timesChapter 6.31 and Chapter 6.39 and boasts that him training Moore would enable the half-giant mage to rip out a Wyvern's heart.. Lorent praises his blades as capable of slicing through it. Snapjaw prized her teeth of capable to get through steel, enchanted armor and even wyvern hide when she failed to injure Zel Shivertail.Chapter 4.48 A good Lancer can kill wyverns with a precise strike.Chapter 4.46 The weighted blade in Yvlon's possession is able to cut cleanly through a wyvern's hide with the right slicing angle, according to Hedault. Habitat Wyverns roost in the High Passes, but also in rocky areas further south, like in the area of the hobgoblin Rockbreaker Tribe. The Walled Cities of Manus and Salazsar are also in areas where Wyverns are common. This means that the danger of encountering larger wyverns in the wild is very real in Southern Izril, and it concerns most lone travellers.Interlude Krshia Whether this means that Wyverns only live in Southern Izril, or just the most dangerous (and most commonly known) subspecies, is yet unclear. Wyverns also exist in Baleros. Wyverns were, once, more common in Northern Izril. As they are natural rivals of Griffins, that originally Terandrian species of flying eagle-lions has slowly become more common in the north and pushed into the wyvern habitats there.The Wandering Inn Glossary A group of several wyverns is known as a migration, which indicates that they are usually stationary and single predators.Chapter 6.32 A more specific term is clutch or weyr, the last term specifically used for Wyverns. A weyr may swell to include hundreds of individual wyverns under leadership of one particularly strong lead wyvern.Chapter 7.00 Hunting Behavior Wyverns are hunting from high overhead.Chapter 2.17 When people describe them as fast hunters, they refer to their ability to dive incredibly fast, and probably not to their normal flight speed. This allows them to abduct their prey in a matter of seconds.Chapter 2.28 Wyverns rarely stop hunting their prey. Unless the hunted manages to get tree cover, the beasts swoop down on them. Even when forced to the ground, they chase their prey further, although not at great speed. This indicates that Wyverns are not able to take flight at will, but need specific conditions to rise in the air. Threat Assessment While everyone agrees that Wyverns are "death in the air", those in the know don't consider wyverns as the most dangerous aerial monsters of Izril, which would be the Vaas Beils. Wyverns, in the contrary, are apparently easier to spot from far away, so that preparations can be made against them. Bevussa also considers Starlings as extremely dangerous, when the little birds appear as a swarm.Interlude - Bird Since there weren't many other food sources, the Rockbreaker Tribe goblins hunted wyverns for food, by throwing rocks at them. Later, Eater of Spears witnessed that throwing dead wyvern heads at the Drakes of a small town proved to scare those Drakes enough to evacuate.Chapter 5.55 G The Redfang tribe also successfully fought Wyverns in the High Passes.Chapter 3.17 T Groups of eagles are able to take on a wyvern in aerial battle,Interlude - Bird which is an argument against their ability to maneuver during aerial fights. ::Speculation: From the story so far, it can be concluded that Wyverns are aerial hunters and most effective when they surprise their prey on featureless ground. ::Strategies against them probably fall into different categories: Running fast and in quick maneuvers so they miss the prey on their dive; or having some cover so that they can't abduct the prey. Once the wyvern is forced to the ground, it is susceptible against all damage that can pierce into its skin or is big enough to deal bludgeoning damage. Another strategy would be to fight the wyvern in the air where it is possible to outmaneuver it. Wyvern products Wyvern meat is expensive, but Magnolia can't stand the taste of it. She admits, however, that it is supposedly healthy.Chapter 1.03 R The meat is also considered an ingredient in magical cooking.Chapter 6.38 Wyvern meat is available in Pallass at the warehouse of Melinni or at the restaurant "Wyvern Steakhouse". According to local chef Lasica, when prepared by her, it’s "very good fried thin and crispy".Chapter 6.09 Wyvern hide makes for very durable items. A specialty shop in Liscor sells (in the upper price range) wyvern-hide balls that are laminated to be smooth and frictionless in play.Chapter 5.45 Trivia * In one of his yearly games, Niers Astoragon unleashed wyverns on the participants...Chapter 6.13 D or maybe it was only one wyvern.Chapter 6.21 D * Reiss and Garen met and bonded when they encountered a baby wyvern hunting Reiss.Chapter 5.50 G * Similarly, Ilvriss met Periss after she distinguished herself by killing a wyvern.Chapter 4.36 O * Magnolia Reinhart's pink carriage is able to withstand a wyvern attack without damage.Chapter 4.26 M References Category:Monsters Category:Food